City could settle cases of wrongfully convicted man, raped woman

A man wrongfully convicted of murder and a woman who fell from a seventh-floor window after being raped could both receive millions of dollars in settlements from the city of Chicago.

Alton Logan was freed in 2008 after spending 26 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Logan says detectives under now-convicted former Area 2 Commander Jon Burge were behind the coverup that led to his conviction for the murder of an off-duty Cook County corrections officer.

"What I cannot understand is, not a true admission of guilt. I asked for an apology- something I knew I wasn't going to get," said Logan. "So much was taken. I was unable to start a family."

To settle Logan's lawsuit, the mayor wants the city to pay Logan $10.25 million.

In addition to settling the Logan case, the mayor also wants to settle the case of Christina Eilman. In 2006, she was raped and fell from the seventh floor of the Chicago Housing Authority's Robert Taylor Homes. That fall left her with permanent brain injuries.

Eilman's family accused the police department of negligence for abandoning the mentally ill young woman in a high-crime neighborhood where the attack happened.

That case is being settled for $22.5 million.

The Chicago City Council is expected to approve both settlements Tuesday.